Monday, April 12, 2010

"A History of Human Stupidity": ☼ ☼

What a title! "A History of Human Stupidity" would draw anyone to the theater, just to see what the show is all about. In this case, you sit downstairs in a pizza parlor, eat pizza, drink beer, and see five women from Berkeley's Rough and Tumble theater company cut up on stage. It's a wild ride, sometimes informative and always amusing.

Chicago's Andy Bayiates wrote the show as a continuing piece from his "A 60 Minute History of Humankind" which appeared on a NBC reality show "Starting Over." The show is now 90 minutes long and though divided into three Acts, it feels like a One Act-er with a Prelude.

In Act One an ape slugs another ape. The second ape learns to slug back. Stupidity is defined: "A good idea gone bad."

(Later on, we get a better definition: "Stupidity may be genius in its larval form.")

In Act Two, the show really starts. We get a history of the entire world, beginning with Greece and ending with the War on Terrorism. In Act Three we are presented with a celebrity roast featuring history's five stupidist people.

Some of it works -- particularly Louise Chegwidden (The Patriot) and Charisse Loriaux's (Smartypants) duet during the segment on The Rise of Fascism.

Other standouts are Chegwidden's Nixon during the roast, and the company's excellent slap-shtick during the segments on Greece and Rome. (Other company members, all terrific performers, are Eowyn Mader (The Radical), Betsy Picart (The Fool) and Carolyn Doyle (The Critic, to whom this critic was particularly attracted. Are we really all that, well, critical?).

Some of it doesn't work so well but that may come down to personal taste. The celebrity roast is a brilliant idea, but to our ears it would be a lot funnier if people other than 20th Century tyrants had been chosen. (The show is supposed to be more about stupidity than politics, right? Does Pol Pot really give anyone a belly laugh?)

At its best "A History of Human Stupidity" is wordy and funny. But sometimes it's just wordy. These are smart people. They'll tighten it up.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼

The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "A History of Human Stupidty" Two Stars. The ensemble and director Cliff Mayotte earn one star for managing not to step on each other's feet with so much choreography in such a small space. A second star is for the show's audacity. You have to love a company who will define stupidity by having Richard Nixon as a celebrity host.____________

"A History of Human Stupidity"La Val's Subterranean1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley Through April 25$16-$20

As a reviewer, I'm like everyone else: I want to see the light. I want to be lifted out of my seat and into the world of the performance. When the new 'My Fair Lady' comes along I want to rush out and tell you about it. When the show comes up short, I want to figure out why.

In San Francisco, we are blessed with world-class premiere houses, astonishingly good local companies and excellent regional theater. But theater tickets cost real money. I want you to feel a little more secure before you punch BUY.

EXPLANATION OF NEW IMPROVED RATINGS SYSTEM

Our Ratings System has been revamped! Half Stars have been eliminated. Capitalized BANGLES of PRAISE and italicized baubles of despair take their place.

BANGLES are good, and the more the merrier. A ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG BANG rating is better than a ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG rating.

baubles are bad. A ☼ ☼ ☼ baub baub rating is worse than a ☼ ☼ ☼ baub rating. A ☼ ☼ ☼ baub would drop the show below ☼ ☼ ☼, which is the coveted Julie Andrews Line. Below the Julie Andrews Line we recommend you do not spend your Do, Re or Mi.

Note that using this system, a ☼ ☼ BANG is roughly the same as a ☼ ☼ ☼ baub. Neither would be recommended.

A ☼ ☼ ☼ show must have something excellent about it, and it has to involve the story. Great acting helps, terrific staging too. But it's got to be in the writing and the actors have to bring the story alive. It can be big or small, short or long. Just don't bore us. If you do: No Julie Andrews.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ are rare. For a show to earn this rating, it must not only be very good but it must also move us. We need to grow during those two acts plus intermission and we need to be surprised. The author must make us go "AH-HAH! THAT'S what he was getting at!" He must tell a perfect story and the actors must deliver. Uproarious, drooling laughter will always help. Deadening angst plus hopeless and depressing poverty makes it harder.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ are practically impossible. They probably need to involve amazing music and a set you can't take your eyes off in addition to everything else that makes up a Four Star production. In Plotnik's 10 years of reviewing theater in the Bay Area, he has given ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ to only one show: Jersey Boys. And it didn't hurt that Frankie Valli was in the audience on Opening Night and tottered up onto stage to hug the actor portraying him.

We hope our NEW IMPROVED awards system adds to your enjoyments. Please contact me if you feel I have forgotten something obvious. I am in Spain, where it is raining.

Henry Higgins

BANG An especially fine moment

baub A particularly irritating moment

Something incomprehensible, where you scratch your chin and go "Waa-huhhh?"

L-R Special category for David Mamet and Sam Shepard plays. Amount of times you squirm in your seat.